This paper draws on an original survey and on the 2004 NES to explore the complexity of contemporary American conservatism. In both datasets, we find evidence that economic and cultural conservatism stand as distinct strands of conservative attitudes. The original survey also allows us to further explore the role of beliefs about the market in economic conservatism. In the end, we find little support for either liberal hopes of fundamental ideological conflict among conservatives or conservative hopes of ideological fusion. Instead, our data suggests that a particular type of ideological coexistence among economic and cultural conservatives is the norm.

I n his final two surviving plays, Assemblywomen and Wealth, Aristophanes turns his comic art toward a consideration of the possibilities of radical economic change. His presentation of those possibilities has been read as either indulging in fantasy or as ironically reinforcing the economic status quo. This essay argues that the two plays in fact work to instill in their audience a complex and challenging sensibility that holds fantasy and irony in tension with one another. Drawing on recent arguments about the relationship and relative priority of economic redistribution and cultural recognition as political goals, I suggest that this sensibility provides an attractive model for theorists and ordinary citizens alike as they grapple with issues of economic and social justice.

Aristophanes has often been read as a conservative who was nostalgic for the days before the advent of radical democracy in Athens. This article offers a more complex reading, centering on the portrayal of ordinary citizens in Archarnians and Knights Focusing on their “cleverness,” Aristophanes recognizes both the potential of ordinary citizens and their limitations as heroes in the struggle against elite domination of democratic politics. This complex portrayal of ordinary citizens, the author suggests, complements recent calls for a more agonistic democratic politics.

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